Success Story #1

Have you ever joined a class for the first time and realized everyone around you are extremely talented in that particular subject and you feel dumbed down? Well if it hasn’t happened thus far trust me, you will go there someday, sooner or later.

After my Secondary school education I joined this boarding school for my A levels. It was my first time in a boarding school and my first attempt at the British education syllabus. As an avid reader I was anticipating excitement and fun in my English Literature classes, instead I was faced with the realization that I hadn’t have remotest idea of what to do or write for an A level literature essay.

I began to lose my confidence when I realised I was scoring D’s in the essays I was producing. I recoiled at the thought of presentations in class, I have had experiences where I blanked out during a presentation. I spent every class praying that my teacher wouldn’t mention my name when questions were being asked. I shrunk into the corner during discussions. I basically became invisible in class.

People began to look past me, I was never chosen as a partner or a teammate. I started fading into an oblivion.

Ok, that was beginning to seem melodramatic but that is how I felt. My teacher even told my mum that if I scored a ‘C’ it’ll be good enough, and that is the best I could do. My fear drove me to work hard on the subject. I tried and learned how analyse: I read and reread the pieces that we were required to learn. During the exam I almost cried, I started to panic.

When the results came out about 2 months later I was so relieved that I actually got a ‘B’ for Literature. I know it isn’t an ‘A’ but this taught me that I can do what I want to do and no one else can set my standards for me.